Welcome to the press briefing of the UN Information Service here in Geneva.
We have a very long list of speakers today and I would like to thank them all already.
As with the catastrophe unfolding in the in Nepal and in the Himalaya, we will hear from several of our colleagues.
And as you've seen in the programme that we've sent you, we have the pleasure to have with us the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the UN Office for Disaster Disc Deduction, Kamal Kishore on my right.
And then we will also have colleagues from Archer, from WHO and from RFRC speaking on the issue.
But I would like to start immediately.
And UNICEF, sorry, you were wrong on my list, but you are now.
But I would like to start this briefing by welcoming the resident coordinator from Nepal, Leela Peters.
Thank you very much for being with us.
We know you are on the move.
And therefore, if if you agree, we would like to give you the floor, the floors first for your introductory remarks.
We'll take questions for you and then we will let you go back, I understand, to Kathmandu, because you have been on the ground to see the devastating situation of the floods.
So I'll give you the floor first, we will take your questions and then we will go to the other speakers.
You have the floor, Mrs Peters?
Good morning, Geneva, and thank you.
So I am here with my colleague, the UNICEF country representative.
I went with her and colleagues from WHO we went to have a first hand to scene to the sites where the disaster happened.
We had not gone there before.
So it was very important for us to be there to witness to, to see how the search and rescue is ongoing, but also to be able to meet with some beneficiary.
And as we were there, actually we could not stay as long as we had expected.
We had to rush because we received an alert that some additional flow floods might be coming.
So with what happened, So first of all, what I'd like to say is that we would like to congratulate and we would like to acknowledge the strong leadership under the Prime Minister Balan Shah of Nepal, who is really reading, leading this search and rescue effort.
It was very impressive to see the military deployment this morning on the ground and to see how active all the military where it was for us.
We heard that a peacekeeping.
Could you repeat the last sentences?
We had the opportunity to meet some.
So what I was saying is that we met a number, we had the opportunity to speak with the spokesperson of the military, but also with the person responsible for the logistics.
And they were very proud in doing their work because they were former United Nation Peacekeeper.
So you could see how much they were devoted.
So maybe some update on the data and those data are from 10:00 AM.
So what we know as of today, unfortunately 464 people have lost their lives.
There are still 977 people which are missing, of which 517 are believed to be international.
We still you have about over 3253 people who have been rescued.
So that's in terms of people, but the damage is just incredible.
You have over 40 ridges which have been destroyed or severely damaged.
You have over 40 kilometres of Rd completely destroyed.
We have hydropower which have been either damaged or completely destroyed.
So this is this is the situation what we'll observe this morning and what we were told is that search and rescue remains the priority.
Saving life as much as possible remains the priority of the national authority.
We have also seen how the aid which is being brought some Kathmandu either by air or Madam sorry, would do you think it would be possible to stop the car while you're speaking because I think you're losing the signal.
While she doesn't listen, she doesn't hear.
I'm going to take off my camera.
No, I think if you, if it would be ever possible to stop the car for a little while, because sometimes we hear very well, we're going to do that.
Yeah, we're going to do that.
So I hope you heard what I was saying and I think I'll stop here and I'm happy to take some of some of the questions.
Yeah, maybe if, if you could just repeat the last 2-3 sentences.
You said that's what we haven't heard you.
We heard the figures and then okay, so I was talking about the physical damages.
I don't know if you have this.
And So what I was saying, what we were, what we were able to observe this morning is search and rescue is ongoing.
And we were, we also witnessed people had just been rescued as we were walking and, and visiting the, the site, one of the site which has been severely damaged.
We saw a whole truck full of people and entire families have just been rescued.
And I can tell it was very, very emotional.
People are extremely, extremely stressed, but obviously very, very happy that they were rescued from this ordeal.
So, so this is what we have observed.
We have also observed that the priority it's hard to reach.
You know you have two of the location where it's you no longer can reach the population.
The only way for reaching is via helicopter because the bridge are no longer there.
So everything is airlifted, even clean water.
Water is is is a big issue having access to clean and safe water.
So that's one thing that we have observed.
So they are shipping water with the helicopter, the shipping non essential food, but they are also shipping with helicopter foods.
We also they're looking the, the government is stabilising equipment such as cargo drone.
They have also requested.
So for example, my colleague from WFP have provided generators because electricity is obviously an issue.
Though I want to stress that what we were told is the hospital in the main area are still functioning and they have been able to transfer people.
In total 73 people have been injured and have been treated and some of them have been released.
So what we can, what I can say is you have an enormous operation, more than 30,300 people, many trees, Security Service personnel from the from Nepal have been mobilised.
It's a huge operation from the side of the government and we are increasingly our self obviously mobilising financial resources and also starting to to scale up our support.
We are doing that under the close of coordination.
The government is is leading the response.
I want to stress the United Nation is not coordinating.
My job is to coordinate United Nation, but it's the government who's coordinating and they have activated the cluster and the UN and the and the and the partner and the UN clusters have been also activated.
Thank you very, very much, Madam, for for briefing our journalists in such a difficult situation.
I'll open the floor to question now for you, just for, just for the wrestling coordinator, sorry.
So that afterwards we can listen from the other speakers.
I see Anyas Pedrero from the French news agency Anyas Bourgeois.
On a 2 telephone border the this Yeah, the it's the oppressional duvoire in yes, it and and if for in and if for in uncle men Luke Verner margin Nepala, you know, gross in a purity narrate Padua repeated Soviet Levis merci buku.
There's one more question from Nick, I mean Bruce of the New York Times, and then we will let you go, Madam.
Does the government have enough helicopters?
And secondly, we hear about the danger, the fear of another calamity emerging from, from leakage from a lake.
Is the government is there now another programme of evacuation of villages downstream from that area underway?
And what, what kind of area is affected by that?
So for in terms of a helicopter, I cannot speak for the government.
What we've seen is that there was a helicopter and they were working nonstop.
So that's and they were functioning.
Whether that's enough, a lot is I'm not an expert, so I cannot answer to this question.
In terms of yes, what we saw this morning while we were there, once the alarm went off that we saw, everybody was following the order and seeking refuge.
We also saw trucks loading people critically, people who are living by the riverbank and were brought up for, for safe, for safety.
So there is a system and what we could observe is the system is working.
Madam, thank you very, very much for briefing about journalists while on the move.
But if the journalists have got more questions for you, Yens is available to collect them and send them to you and get you an answer.
Thank you again and good luck with your very important work in this dire situation.
And let's stay on Nepal now with the other speakers that we have today.
And I'd like to start now by welcoming our special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Kamal Kishore, who will tell us more about the disaster aspect of this catastrophe.
First of all, condolences to communities in both the countries that have been affected by this event in a living memory.
We haven't seen a mountain hazard event like this for a very, very long time.
The impact on lives, livelihoods, buildings, infrastructure, bridges, hydroelectric projects, power generation, it's really immense and I think we are still coming to grips with the extent of the damage.
I also have to say that this is the time to stand in solidarity with the people who've been affected.
I think in Nepal, the honourable Prime Minister himself is leading the response efforts.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, who the UN works very closely with, is doing a remarkable job of coordinating the response.
So all the investment that has been made by the government, by the international system in strengthening that system is really now functioning in the event of this very, very tragic disaster.
I just want to say three more points.
The first is that the situation, as was highlighted earlier is very much dynamic.
A major event happened day before yesterday.
But in terms of what is happening upstream in the mountains, it's very dynamic and it is something which will call for a continued vigilance need for staying alert so that the the response can be very effective and it can be, it can be quite alert to other cascading hazards that might unfold.
It is also a reminder that many of the hazards that we deal with, many of the disaster risks that we deal with in 21st century are transboundary.
It is again highlighted how fragile mountain ecosystems are and how challenging it is to set up early warning systems in mountain environments where you're not predicting one hazard, but you're predicting a range of cascading hazards.
So there will be a lot of learning in times to come, but for now, it's it's really the time for solidarity with people of, of Nepal.
The government is doing a great job of coordinating the response.
There is a support from the United Nations, bilateral support from many other countries.
And all of this needs to come together to alleviate the suffering and put the people back on a path of resilient recovery.
Thank you very much, SRSG.
And thank you also because you will stay also later on after we finish with Nepal with another item on El Nino.
So I'd like now to go to Kathmandu again, where Tomaso has brought us David Fisher, who is the IFRC Head of Delegation for Nepal.
So sorry if you want to give us a few brief remarks.
Thank you very much for making time for us.
I won't repeat what what Leela has said just to just to mention, of course that the, the trauma of this event is absolutely enormous.
We've heard, you know, from our own Nepal Red Cross volunteers in, in the communities themselves just how devastating it was and that the emotional impact as well as the initial needs are still very, very high for them as as well As for their neighbours.
There are still areas that are only accessible by helicopter, as we have heard, which is extremely difficult.
And we have not been able to start the initial rapid assessment process in Rasua, which is normally undertaken by the Nepal Red Cross, the police and the local authorities, which is basically the first official assessment process.
It has started in Nova Coat, which is the second most affected district, slightly to the South, but it's not yet completed.
And so we are operating on still very, very estimated figures, but we believe that at least 93,000 people are, have been affected and are in great need.
And we're of course very, very concerned about the secondary flood.
I'm so glad to see that Lilo is OK from from our own colleagues, we've heard that it was nowhere near Thank goodness the the force of the flood on Wednesday has not even had not even reached Nova code yet, even though it started in the morning just by the just before I joined and that it they haven't seen damage in that area.
However, it's of course extremely worrying.
It has blocked this today's trucker shipments also from our side from reaching the area.
And the authorities have been working very hard to restore the road access.
And we're afraid that this will also have been delayed by the the.
Beat the alert and asking people to move away from low lying areas.
We're happy to report that we're finally in phone contact with our volunteers in Wasilla.
They are, they are well, they've been working with the armed forces as they arrive by helicopter to support with the distribution of relief.
But we have not yet been able to provide any relief items from outside to them.
And the needs are very, very high.
We know that thousands of homes have been destroyed, in addition to the infrastructure that was mentioned by Lila.
We know that the death toll is very high, unfortunately likely to continue to rise.
The Federation has launched an emergency appeal seeking 25,000,000 Swiss francs to support the response of the Nepal Red Cross to this emergency.
We expect this to run for 24 months.
It will support action across shelter, cash assistance, water and sanitation, household relief items, safe water, hygiene, mental health, psychosocial support and restoring the links of people who have been separated from their families.
But it will also have a very strong recovery focus.
It's really important even now in the very beginning to be thinking along those lines and to ensure that our solidarity is not limited to immediate survival, but also to allowing these communities to heal and ensuring that people are not living under tarpaulins and tents, you know, months and months from now.
So we have support from the government for this approach and we know that the authorities have been very proactive, as Eva mentioned, and they're very keen to to act quickly and to provide an effective relief together with their partners.
And we've greatly appreciated that.
We have, I'm sorry, we've already deployed our teams.
I mentioned sorry to the area and we are looking forward to, to the support of the global community.
Thank you, Mr Fisher for this words.
And I come back to Geneva, maybe UNICEF, Ricardo, and then we'll hear from WHO and I'll open the floor to questions again.
My colleagues already painted a very grim picture of the situation on the ground in Nepal.
So I will just give a very quick overview of the impact on children because they're always the first to suffer and the ones that suffer the most, we know that at least 17,000 children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
They have been impacted severely, but what by what happened in Nepal by the flash floods?
Sadly, many more remain missing and we expect these numbers could rise as search and rescue efforts continue.
In a matter of minutes, children saw their homes, their schools, health facilities and communities damaged or simply swept away.
Too many children have lost family members and loved ones.
Sadly, we're only seeing the beginning of this tragedy and and we share our sympathies and and our condolences to those who've lost loved ones.
The emergency is far from over.
Children now face increased risks of disease, malnutrition, violence and exploitation, as well as the psychological impact of what they have experienced.
We've all seen the images.
It's quite brutal and shocking and unexpected.
This, this is very important.
The emergency does not end when the flood waters recedes.
The consequences for children can last for months and even years, especially in a, in a, in an area where the topography is so complex and access, as my colleagues have described, it remains a, a big, big challenge for humanitarian workers.
Some of the hardest hit areas are making it extremely difficult for us to to continue life saving assistance for children and families.
On the education front which is again a very serious impact for children, 18 schools have been completely destroyed and another 20 have been damaged.
Dozens more schools are located close to the riverbanks in affected areas and remain at high risk, which means an estimated 10,000 school age children in the area urgently need support to continue their education and getting children back to learning.
It's not just about education in an emergency.
As such, a safe learning space provides children with protection, routine and a sense of normality at a time when everything around them has been disrupted.
UNICEF is working, of course, closely with the Government of Nepal and humanitarian partners to rapidly scale our response.
Despite all the challenges, we're supporting children and families across health, nutrition, war and sanitation and hygiene, education, child protection and social protection areas.
In the coming days, pre position supplies will be dispatched to the hardest hit communities and we will find a way to make them get there as quickly as possible.
And just to finish, UNICEF is appealing for 17.2 million U.S.
dollars to sustain the emergency response and support in this early recovery process.
And we hope the international community will get together again to support the children in the affected areas of Nepal.
Thank you, thank you, Thank you very much, Ricardo indeed.
Let me go now to WHO Tariq is online.
Thank you very much, Alexander.
I will truly try to be to be short.
We heard a lot from from colleagues as resident coordinators said our WHO colleagues were among those who visited some affected areas today but had to cut shorter visit as there were new a new flash floods warning.
I will send more details in my notes.
But just to when it comes to to to to to health facilities, 6 health facilities have been damaged, 4 fully damaged in Gasua and two partially damaged in dating area.
Now health authorities and partners are coordinating to to manage patients to ensure blood availability, provide first aid and maintain emergency response capacity.
As always, when we have disaster of this scale and and we have we have displacement, overcrowding and we we may have disruption of the water, sanitation and health services and that can increase the risk of infectious diseases.
Right now, really the priority is to ensure continuity of health services.
The Government of Nepal is leading the response.
They have reached out for support to meet the immediate needs of affected communities.
All emergency medical teams have been deployed from Kathmandu to affected districts to provide treatment to injured people.
More are understand by now from WHO we mobilised and this essential emergency medical supplies including an inter agency emergency health kits that can cater for the health needs of nearly 10,000 people for three months along with the multipurpose stents but also body bags.
And then based on urgent needs that have been identified, WHO today handed over a number of items including surgical masks and 95 masks, hand sanitizer, surgical gloves and and body bags.
You will have all the details in the notes.
Again, priority is to support health services, body affected communities and to restore disrupted health services.
And let me give the floor finally to Yens for a final remark from our chat.
Yeah, thank, thank you very much and good morning, everyone.
As as as we just heard from the resident coordinator there, there was an an alert this morning and they basically had to abandon their mission.
And given the devastation that we have seen from what happened first, this is frankly bone chilling because there is of course a lot of people there.
There's a lot of rescue workers in the area, so our concern is very high.
I want to just point to a statement that emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher, who has been following this really minute by minute since since it happened, has just put out.
You can find it on his ex channel where he says we are moving at speed to save lives after the ferocious flash floods in Nepal and China.
I remain in close contact with our teams in the region and the Nepalese and Chinese authorities.
He also says challenges are great, bridges and roads are destroyed and communication is compromised.
And he thanks the humanitarians facing danger and the challenges to save lives.
So just wanted to point you to that statement.
And let me conclude also with the pointing you to the world of solidarity is that the Secretary General has expressed 2 days ago where he has said he was saddened by the severe flooding in Nepal and China, which has claimed many lives, left people missing and caused widespread destruction.
Extended his condolences to the families of the victims, as the Sr as Jesus also said, and wished a swift recovery to those injured and assured everyone of the support of the United Nations, which we have heard until now.
So let me now open the floor to questions.
OK, let's start with the room and yes, French news agency.
Yes, a question to to OCHA and, and to others.
IFRC, UNICEF mentioned 17,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance.
Do you have a global figure of of the population which is in humanitarian assistance to to have not just the children but also the men and women?
And IFSC mentioned 93,000 people are affected.
What does it mean concretely and how many of those people are injured?
What are the needs of those people?
So if you could give us another view of the people in humanitarian assistance?
As you know, assessments are ongoing and we do not have an overall figure for that at the moment.
Of course we will come to that when we are looking at exactly how the emergency response plan will be, will be you know structured and built and in particular for how long time, right.
That's also an important factor, Mr Fisher, Sorry, yes, so this 93,000 is only an estimate.
It's it's, it's true that we have not been able to carry out the kinds of dedicated assessments that we normally would.
But the national assessment process, as I mentioned, the initial rapid assessment that the power crossed us with the authorities has started now just just today in in Nova Court.
Yes, yes, my mic should be there.
So about those 93,000 people who who there are, what are their needs, how many of them are injured?
If you have any information and how this figure came out?
So we don't have the, the, the detail, unfortunately, because the, the detailed assessments have not yet been done.
It's an estimate based on what our local branches have seen in their discussions with with the authorities.
Certainly many people, as we've heard have have had suffered trauma and had to go to the medical centres.
We have seen, of course, the pictures of so many homes that have been destroyed.
But how many of these are have are homeless?
How many of these are other kind of need?
I'm not able to say to that.
I'm hoping Mr Kishore and Mr Fisher can elaborate on the possible cascading hazards.
So the lake overflowed this morning.
Could you just elaborate on the risks?
And Mr Fisher, you said that your trucks were blocked.
And also what were they carrying?
Were they carrying rescue items or were they rescuing people?
If you could just explain a bit that detail.
I'm as well start with Mr Kishore.
I think he's the first part of your question about disaster cascading.
And then we'll go to Mr Fisher for the extracts.
So in in the mountains, you know, there is no flood, which is a simple flood.
You know, there is a landslide or, you know, a part of a glacier breaks and then creates an artificial dam which holds water then which breaches and again causes flash floods.
So this is a very dynamic thing.
What specifically is happening in Nepal right now in that river basin is something for people who are actually on the ground to, to, to comment on It is just to highlight that we are working in a situation of extremely high risk as well as a lot of uncertainty.
It's a it's a unique challenge for the emergency response itself because in a sense, the disaster is not yet completely over.
It is still unfolding in some ways.
Mr Fisher, the trucks, yes, thank you.
So they given, given the the the flood that started this morning, the the authorities have blocked, had blocked traffic and This is why our truck could not continue up to Novaco.
And but we're happy to say so far, at least from our information that this is not anywhere near as intense so far, but that doesn't mean that it's over.
Sadly, OK, so thank you very much.
I don't see other hands up in the in the platforms I'd like to.
And yes, yes, maybe a question to WHO given there is a lot of floods and everything, do you expect any specific disease outbreak, anything that people should be aware of?
For some reason I'm not able to do my camera.
But yes, every time there is a displacement, there is overcrowding, then there is a risk of not having access to clean water, which then means that there is a risk of infectious diseases.
There is also increased risk of risk of respiratory diseases.
But every time we have such such incidents that really the priority is the is the trauma injuries.
People who have been who have been injured need to get access to, to, to, to, to immediate medical care for that.
And that's why we are working with the government to make sure that there is a disease surveillance.
So in case there is a there is any any outbreak that it can be dealt with that quickly.
Thank you very much, Tarek.
So thank you everyone who has participated in this update on the situation in Nepal.
Thank you very much to our colleagues.
Thanks for having brought Mr Fisher, Tomaszo.
Thanks, Mr Fisher, and and good luck with your work.
I'd like to keep SRS G Kishore on the on the podium for the second item.
And maybe I don't know, Claire, if you want to want to come since you have an update to it's on El Nino.
So I'll I'll give you the floor, Sir.
First, thank you very much for this opportunity to engage.
I am going to talk a little bit about the El Nino and how we are preparing for it and how the world needs to prepare for dealing with the risks associated with El Nino.
There is a forecast issued by WMO regularly.
There will be an updated forecast to be issued next week.
So that will provide the global seasonal outlook on what is how El Nino is unfolding and what is the kind of impact it will have in terms of variations in temperature and rainfall across the world.
But I just want to say that El Nino by itself is not a disaster.
In fact, it is not even a hazard by itself.
It causes more rainfall in some areas, It causes less rainfall in some areas.
And we have a lot of lead time to actually anticipate some of these things and take actions to elevate the impacts.
In fact, there could be some locations where you could harness potential benefits.
For example, if there is a region which normally gets very high rainfall in a normal season and it is the prediction is that the rainfall will be less than normal, maybe there is an opportunity to harness that situation because you are not going to get the flooding that you get every year.
So in this regard, the United Nations system is working as a system.
A number of UN agencies, WMOFAOWFP, My organisation, UNDRRUNDP, Development Coordination Office, DPPA and others have come together and provided consolidated guidance to resident coordinators to work alongside governments in ensuring that we are well prepared and we do an effective job of managing risks associated with the El Nino.
There are three top line messages.
Of course you know many things are location specific, but since this is a global briefing, I will say 3 top line messages which basically apply to all countries across the world.
The first thing I want to say is that dealing with risks associated with El Nino is not 100 metre Sprint, it is a marathon.
It is going to unfold over several months, more than a year, and the effects are different across different regions, in different locations.
So it's really important that national authorities work alongside the national met agencies, the regional centres and of course at the global level with WMO to keep an eye on what is unfolding.
Of course, we can anticipate many of the impacts based on analogous El Nino events in the past.
So it is really important that our method of anticipating what will happen and how we will respond to is respond to what will happen is something which is very dynamic.
It requires A coordination mechanism which is running for the next 12 to 18 months.
If we do that well, this is something that is going to serve us well in terms of building resilience into the future as well for other climate hazards.
The second message is that a lot of the times the focus is on one or two sectors very narrowly and the most obvious one is agriculture.
Of course agriculture is affected very badly in many parts of the world, but the effects are actually really multi sectorial.
It is on availability of water, including drinking water.
There are implications for energy production where reservoirs are running low and the hydropower electricity generation capacity may be compromised.
It is for other infrastructure systems, For example, Panama Canal, you know it is serviced by two reservoirs.
If the water level is down there, it affects the traffic.
But all of it is something that we can anticipate and we can prepare.
So my second message is that it is really important that countries take a multi sectoral approach in addressing this and the United Nations system stands ready to support that effort.
And the Third Point is that it's really important that we focus on local level and really identify communities and locations that are more vulnerable than the others.
And we do not apply approach which is same for every place, for every community because some of the impacts are really focused in some locations.
For some people, the impact could be much higher.
For example, you could have a country where the national forecast is that there is going to be reduction in rainfall by 30% or whatever, but that's not evenly spread.
If you did analysis, we will figure out that it's in only certain locations and there are certain communities.
So it's really important that we focus on the most vulnerable locations and communities in a proactive way.
An essential part of that is making resources available.
So it's not just focusing in abstract way, but making resources available at the local level for that action.
So if we did these three things, you know, take an iterative long term approach, sustain our attention on El Nino, took a multi sectorial approach and focused on the most vulnerable.
I think at the end of this El Nino, we can come out looking very good in terms of how we manage the risks associated with the El Nino.
SRS Jikishore and Claire, you had an announcement just on the El Nino maybe about the next week, right?
So I thank you very much indeed for that.
I don't have much of substance to to add to that.
The World Meteorological Organisation, we will be issuing the next El Nino update on the Thursday the 3rd of September.
There will be a press conference in this room with our Secretary General, Celeste Salo.
We hope to send everything out to you under embargo in all the official languages by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.
And this El Nino update, We produce this 4 * a year.
It's based on input from all our global producing centres and our big network of experts.
And we are accompanying this with the what we call the global seasonal climate update.
And that has more detail on the on, on breaking it down region by region.
So as I said, stay tuned for for that.
But just to emphasise that, you know, the United Nations really is working very, very closely together on this, you know, WMO, you know, we really are committed and we really appreciate all the all the cooperation this, you know, it's, it's a big it's a big challenge and we're in this together.
Thank you, absolutely, thank you very much.
Let me open the floor to questions, if any in the room.
I don't see any or on the platform.
You've been asking for any new questions for weeks.
It's your your chance to ask your questions to the SRSG, but I don't see any hand up.
I guess you've been extremely clear.
You want to add something Shusho, go ahead.
I just I want to add one comment.
All the effort that the United Nations system and other partners, IFRC and national authorities have made in increasing the reach of early warnings through the SGS initiative on early warning for all, all of that will come in handy in dealing with the consequences of the El Nino.
Next week we will have a forum in Africa in Addis Ababa in collaboration with the African Union, where WMOUNDRRIFRC and ITU will convene all the countries from the region to take stock of how the early warning systems are doing in Africa, what we've achieved in the last few years, what remains to be done and how do we sustain focus on improvement of early warning systems.
Thank you for this announcement, Sir.
I'd like to thank you very much.
And we continue with the with the briefing.
Let's go ahead now with our next speaker who is in Ukraine.
I don't need to introduce you to the general habits.
You, you know him very well.
And the Ukraine representative of WHO you're calling in from Kiev, Tarek is also online.
I'll give you the floor for your update on the health situation in Ukraine.
And first of all, I wanted also say our our hearts and minds are with many in Nepal where we have many, many different nations impacted, including Ukrainians.
And I wish all the health workers, but everybody in involved in rescue also all the strength as as it is unfolding.
But today I'm joining you from Kiev, where we have experienced numerous alarms and attacks with the highest numbers since Russian Federation invasion in February 2022.
And I would like to draw your attention to last week's daytime attack on the grounded shopping mall in Kiev Reef are from frontline as families were preparing for the new school year.
As a result of two attacks, 140 people were injured, including 23 children and 16 people lost their lives.
What that means for us as awho it means to support health workers in and two hospitals in their operations.
We distributed emergency medical supplies to treat the injured, including medicines, trauma supplies and burn care materials to cover 300 patients.
And this is just an example from the past 4 1/2 years, which puts civilians under daily risk and stress and at the same time the health system under stress to provide care.
And now let me focus a little bit more on humanitarian response in the frontline of blasts and WHO support in 2026.
First, we have continued deliveries as nine WHO direct convoys and 22 UN interagency convoys.
And the last two convoys actually to Donetsko Blast are taking place as we speak now and to ensure that communities are supported.
And this has allowed us to reach 51 far to reach communities with much needed medicines, equipments to hospitals and various supplies.
Second, we continue to provide medical supplies to health cluster partners to reach out to other communities.
And I would like to thank all the humanitarian partners who are working throughout those weeks, days and years in the past, the third, The Who supported primary care teams have provided 13,130 consultations in the past eight months.
And that is important to notice that the pace of those consultations are similar like last year.
So the needs are continuously there, 4th in hard to reach areas where the pharmacies are closed, The Who delivers over the counter medicine and various kits related to this reaching 28,400 people.
And 5th, as part of the WH OS overall humanitarian response by providing equipment and supplies to over 300 health facilities, including primary care, hospital laboratories but also the transit centres where people are going through after evacuations, we have supported the health system in reaching 3,000,000 beneficiaries.
Now a topic that we discussed also in May last time is on attacks on health.
We observe and report continues attacks reaching by today 3205 attacks as of today.
But today we also need to mention that attacks are impacting how we as humanitarian community can provide life saving and necessary support.
As we 2026 we have had already 20 attacks to various warehouses where humanitarian supplies are held, including thirteen health related supplies holding warehouse as double HO.
We have experienced a tax in July in Kiev and in August in Libro, where we have lost considerable number of medical supplies and equipment that was intended to reach 225,000 people.
So we are also stretched what we can do and we need to replenish all of those supplies.
This brings very different challenge to the support to people who need healthcare basically all over the country.
And I would like to thank the health and care workers in Ukraine for their heroic work and resilience over the past years.
But the toll on Ukraine's health work is also becoming interestingly clear.
Recent public National Research shows that more than one in four doctors and nurses report symptoms compatible with major depressive disorders, while one in five healthcare workers report sign of anxiety disorders.
This impact of war to the health and care workers impacts all as the whole system is responding so meaning in east part of them our S part of the country on the frontline but equally in the western part.
Everybody among the healthcare workers are impacted and our role is to introduce more policies and tools to help those who save others and save lives.
To support the well-being of the healthcare workers WHO has integrated psychological first and self-care into the emerging emerging emergency medical team training, reaching 41 professionals in 11 regions.
And another good example is WH OS Doing What Matters in Times of Stress programme for primary care and rehabilitation workers, which has reached more than 700 health and care workers and demonstrated significant improvements in psychological well-being, daily functioning, symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety and PTSD.
And that is extremely important.
And I have seen number of partners addressing the same matter is that we can support also healthcare workers who have been going through COVID and the war over the past years.
And finally, we must be prepared for another difficult winter to do everything possible to save lives, to help keep essential health services running.
WHO has already installed 30 heating units for various health facilities with 22 planned before winter.
And I was just visiting yesterday one of the hospitals where the ongoing construction is going and they are getting ready to have that heating station in place in October.
And finally, I like to thank all of you as well as we have had number of briefings in UN Palais and this is my last briefing in my role as a Double HO representative in Ukraine eight years ago.
I came to Ukraine to support health reform and health system transformation, one of the fastest in Europe.
Since then, together with Double HO team and many partners, we have faced major public health challenges from measles, polio, COVID-19 to scale up the response to non communicable diseases and address population ageing.
Since 22, our team has focused mostly on how to support health system and people in Ukraine to withstand the devastating impact of full scale war.
And just one lesson that I take with me is that response, recovery and reform cannot wait one and another.
They must happen together and simultaneously, and only that way we can build resilient health systems and ensure that nobody is left behind.
So thank you for reflecting on Ukraine.
Thank you for listening me also over the years.
And in next three things you will see already the new WTO representative in Ukraine.
Yeah, no, thank you so very much.
I didn't, I think I wasn't conscious of the fact that was your last briefing.
And I, we really appreciate that you have reserved it to the briefing to the media in, in Geneva.
And also all the work, as you say, 8 years have gone very fast.
And we were really, really happy to have you constantly with us telling us the situation of health in this war-torn country.
I'll open the floor to questions now if there is any.
I don't see any in the room or on the platform.
But really, I think, I think we have a depth of recognition of attitude towards you for your customs support.
Good luck with your next in Davis.
We will continue highlighting the situation of health in Ukraine.
And one continuous you and I'd like now to welcome our next speaker who is coming from UNHCR.
So Catalat has brought us Elizabeth Tan.
I also don't need to introduce you Mrs Dunn because everybody knows you've been briefing our journalist often.
You are the UNHCR Director of International Protection and Solutions and like to speak about the 65 year mark of the convention.
Thank you very much and good morning everyone.
It is 65 years since states put together a convention on the reduction of statelessness.
And so this is an opportunity to highlight the issues around statelessness as well as how we can address it.
So at the heart of that convention is a simple promise that no one should be left without a nationality.
And yet today there are about 4.5 million stateless persons worldwide.
And this is just the official statistics.
So we know that the true number is likely much higher because often these populations and individuals are invisible in official data.
It affects almost every aspect of individual's lives.
Without a nationality, a person often cannot get a national an identity document, has difficulty enrolling in school, access to healthcare, can't work legally, often can't open a bank account, own property, or even travel.
In addition, parents often can't register the birth of their children.
So that means that children inherit that kind of exclusion and that perpetuate statelessness generation after generation.
So it's at its most basic level then statelessness means that no state recognises you as its national.
So this anniversary allows us to take stock and to also accelerate progress.
Statelessness falls within Unhcr's mandate.
We've been tasked by the by the General Assembly to with a responsibility to identify and protect stateless people and also to help states to prevent and reduce statelessness.
So there are two conventions actually, one which which deals with the protection of those who are already stateless, and then the 1961 convention which speaks to the prevention of statelessness.
So I wanted to share with you today some of the progress that has been made.
So, since 2024, more than 650,000 stateless people have managed to acquire a nationality or have their nationality confirmed, and 60 and 94 countries have strengthened the state safeguards in their nationality laws.
Turkmenistan resolved all known cases of statelessness on its territory in 2024.
In Thailand last year, accelerated procedures introduced last year allowed 120,000 stateless people to secure nationality or permanent residence.
And in Syria, recent measures by the the government have opened a pathway to nationality for eligible members of the Kurdish communities who had faced decades of legal uncertainty.
So there is clearly progress and we know how that progress can be achieved.
However, discrimination continues to be a major concern for statelessness in 24 countries.
Women cannot confer nationality to their children on an equal basis with women.
Some nationality laws still lack safeguards for children who would otherwise be safe stateless.
Elsewhere, safeguards exist on paper, but they're not applied in practise.
We also have cases of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, which is also a serious concern.
So today UNHER is asking for four concrete things.
Firstly, that states should protect stateless persons that are on their territory and establish clear pathways through which they can acquire a nationality.
Secondly, we would like to see those discriminatory nationality laws reformed so that every child can acquire a nationality.
Thirdly, those legal frameworks, those two conventions, we would like all states to accede to those, to those conventions to protect stateless persons on their territory, but also to find solutions for them.
And then fourthly, there is a global alliance which is made-up of Member States and civil society groups, UN agencies, which is working on practical solutions to support stateless persons but also to help stateless persons acquire or reaffirm their nationality.
This crucially includes quite a number of stateless LED organisations that these organisations and individuals are working tirelessly to help identify barriers, shape reforms, support communities through complex procedures, legal procedures that often are quite difficult to navigate.
So these are essential partners in our efforts to end statelessness.
We'll continue to work on this and in today's just coming to address you today, we're really asking for more attention to these to to the problem of individuals who are stateless and to just highlight that this is a preventable problem.
It is within, within reach to solve statelessness for individuals and to truly give them a sense of belonging.
So with that, thank you very much.
Thank you very much indeed.
You want to add anything to it?
So let me see if there's any question for you in the room or online.
I've seen that the notes have been distributed.
So you have all this information on this important anniversary and important to call again for action in this field.
Thank you very, very much and thanks for being here until now patiently waiting and I also have another briefer who is patiently waiting with Martha.
And Martha, you're the last.
No, no, you're not the last effect.
We've got a couple more speakers, but the last topic on our agenda.
And Tariq is telling us that The Who notes have been sent by emails, which is good.
And Martha, you have an item on IIT.
So good morning, everyone.
You have received a while ago press briefing note on Haiti that I'm going to read right now.
A recent armed attack in Kenskov, a commune on the outskirts of of Port au Pons, is a stark reminder of the persistent brutality of gun violence inflicted on local and displaced populations in Haiti.
Based on information we have been able to verify so far, at least 47 people were killed in the 23rd August attack, including three boys and two girls and 20.
More than 52 people were abducted.
In the evening of 23rd August, approximately 150 heavily armed gang members stormed several localities near downtown Kenskov and opened fired at residents attempting to flee through the streets, killing at least 13.
The attackers subsequently pursued more than 50 residents who had sought refuge in a Protestant church.
After forcing them out of the charred premises, they executed 22 of them in the church courtyard and 12 fathers behind the church as they retreat from downtown.
Ginkoff gang members abducted 52 people, including one boy and four girls, in an audio recording shared on social media on 24 August.
The gang threatened to execute them if security operations against them continued.
The mass killing of Kenskov underscores the origin need for national authorities to enhance the protection of the population, particularly communities living in areas affected by gun violence.
Illicit flows of firearms and ammunitions into Haiti continued to bolster and empower arm gangs.
On 24 August, another gang operating in port of France appeared to display on social media what seemed to be a new shipment of weapons arriving from abroad despite the United Nations arms embargo on Haiti in place since 2022.
This comes as Asians continue to endure horrific human rights violations and abuses.
Between 1st of February and the 30th of June this year, our human rights service in the UN Integrated Office in Haiti has recorded 1408 people killed and 656 injured in the context of gang related violence.
326 people were subjected to sexual violence, although these figures are likely to be substantially higher given their significant challenges in collecting data on sexual violence due to fear of retaliation, socialist stigma, difficult in accession services providers and lack of trust in police.
Independent impartial investigations into allegations of human rights violations and abusions are essential along with efforts to strengthen accountability mechanisms and combat impunity.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Falkar Turk calls on the Asian authorities to ensure that the specialised judicial units to investigate mass crimes, Nepal Judiciary specialise which were created with our office assistance are promptly and fully operationalized and able to address great cases such as this.
Accelerating the deployment of the Gang Suppression Force to counter gang violence in a strict compliance with international human law and standards is also critical.
We urge all relevant actors to ensure a strict application of both domestic and international regulation regulations on arms control as well as adherence on to the UN arms embargoes to Haiti.
And I'd like to also recall the the condemnation that the UN Secretary General target that has made forceful condemnation of the devastating and assault that Marta has spoken about.
So let me see if there are questions for you, Marta in online or in yes, please.
You might remember that we issue a report on trafficking in children in February, where we detail all the abuses that children are subjected to in Haiti.
Not only they don't have access to school in places where the gangs are present, but as well they are recruited by gangs, they are sexually abused.
This is particularly acute for children livings either in this place, camps or in places where they are really low socio economic levels and especially for those without parents and accompanied children.
All of that, it's well documented then the authorities needs to tackle this and the root causes which start levelling the socio economic level of these areas and of course tackling gang violence.
Thank you very much, Martha.
Just to remind you that today at 3:00 PM New York time, but the Security Council will convene a special meeting to discuss this attack and violence and the gang violence in Haiti.
Of course, it's late for us, but if you want to follow it, it will be at 3:00 PM in New York Times Web custom by even Web TV.
And we see if there are other hands up.
So Martha, thank you very much and thanks for being with us for this long briefing.
Yes, David, please come to the podium.
You have an announcement also patiently waiting to tell us about the upcoming reports that ITU is probably going to publish.
On Wednesday next week to September, IT will release the Greening Digital Companies Report.
There's a 2026 version with the World Benchmarking Alliance.
The report evaluates the climate performance of 200 digital companies globally by tracking key measures such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, renewable energy use, and for the first time in the 2026 report, also tracking climate transition planning.
The report will be issued late on Wednesday.
It'll be at 10:15 Wednesday evening, our time here, when the embargo will lift.
That's with your indulgence in coordination with the presentation that's taking place on Eastern Time at ITU's World Telecommunication Policy Forum forum in the Bahamas.
Up until that time, we have embargoed versions of the report and press release available and on the ready which we will circulate, we'll circulate a note with the embargo information.
Any reporters interested in receiving the embargoed material, please be in touch with us at Press info at ITU dot INT.
Thank you very much, David.
Any question on this, on the launch of this report to ITU?
So thank you very much again.
And yes, they will be waiting for the embargo information and also any information from Angktad now with Marcelo Hola.
Marcelo, thank you very much for being with us.
You have an update on the World Investment Forum upcoming?
Alessandra, hello and thank you for the time.
Yes, it's a very quick announcement.
Just to flag that Ontario and Trade and Development will convene the 9th World Investment Forum in Doha and Qatar from the 25th to the 27th of October.
The theme is Investing in the future.
This follows A visitor this week which concludes today to advance planning with the Qatari partners and the local teams working on the organisation of the forum.
The width is it also known.
The World Investment Forum is the United Nations leading platform for the global investment community.
It brings together governments, investors and institutions to focus on how investment can better support development.
This year's forum comes at a particularly important moment.
Geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation and rapid technological change are reshaping where investment goes and how supply chains are organised.
Some of you I'm sure, remember that last month we issued the World Investment Report showing the Global Direct Foreign Direct Investment FDI recovered last year but remained uneven with the vast majority going to the 20 largest host communities and investment becoming really increasingly concentrated in a very small number of strategic sectors.
So the question for Qatar is clear, for Doha Forum is clear.
How can investment reach more economies, support sustainable development and help countries prepare for the future?
These will be addressed at Forum.
Registration is open for programme available on our website on that.org.
And as usual, even if it's indoor, Eunice is taking care of the media accreditation.
My colleague Alika Fan is dealing with that.
So don't hesitate to address yourself to him or to, of course, on that media team for the accreditations.
Thank you very much Marcel.
I'm just I'm just left with one announcement on the committee's to tell you that the Committee on the Rights of the Child will open it's 101st session next Tuesday, 1st September at 10 AM.
During this session, the Committee will review success successfully the reports of Risotto, Timor Leste, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Slovenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
As you know, the Committee's seen 18 independent experts monitored the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its States parties, including the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Involvement of Children in Armoured Conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child ***********.
So an important meeting opening on the 1st of September.
And that is all I had for you, except to remind you that tomorrow is the International Day Against a Nuclear Test.
On the 30th of August, this International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
And on the 31st, the international community comes together to commemorate the International Day for People of African Descent.
So if you don't have any other question, I thank you very much.
Wish you a very good weekend.
Thank you very much for following this very, very long briefing, and I'll see you on Tuesday.
